Thursday, June 10, 2010

Yuma Arizona's Mayor Al Krieger made offensive remarks at a Memorial Day event suggesting gay people are effeminate and weak and asserted that gay servicemembers can never do what tough veterans have done in the past.

The Mayor voiced his opposition to repealing the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy by saying:

“I cannot believe a bunch of lacey-drawered, limp-wristed people could do what those men have done in the past.”

“We need solid, strong men to fight those battles. Not pacifists.”

He even went on to compare his stand with that of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, saying that he was principled and speaking from the heart.

Despite your comments, this limp-wristed, effeminate fireman would still be ready as ever to fulfill his duty honorably if there were ever a call at your house or your office. For your ignorant, disgraceful slandering of hundreds, if not thousands of brave Americans who risk their lives daily for their compatriots, however, you don't deserve it.

Seriously Arizona is not getting a good rap, they are just spewing out racism and bigotry in every possible direction. I can't wait to see when this Mayor is involved in a gay sex scandal. She doth protest too much.

George Washington hired General Friedrich von Steuben to help start the American army and this man was kicked out of the Prussian army for being a homosexual. It's also rumored both Lincoln and Washington were NOT heterosexuals.

I am a republican, a disabled veteran, and a homosexual. I gave up part of my right leg in the Army fighting for our freedoms as Americans, including, I suppose your freedom of ignorant speech. What have you done?

Funny how he states that he wants only strong men in the military. Last time I checked I was masculine, strong and would carry out the mission and die for my country if I was asked too. I would even die for a right winged P.O.S like him!

Well, well, well....its all right....just ask to see his birth certificate to make sure of citizenship!! Then check his sexuality to determine he isn't a closet case hating one like J. Edgar Hoover and George W. Bush Jr.; and finally remind him of applicable laws regarding public officials making hate statements.

I'm a 60 year-old Viet Nam veteran with two Purple Hearts who served there with a platoon commander I now suspect, after all these years, was gay. I hooched with him and we were best friends and I can say he was one hell of a Marine Lieutenant. At 6'4" and 275 pounds I doubt this idiot would call him 'limp wristed'. As a matter of fact, I know he wouldn't.

The most decorated soldier in World War Two was Audie Murphy. He was five feet five and so sickly that all of the services except the army wouldn't admit him. Even the army wanted to make him a cook. Occupation after the war? Actor. Stallone and Swartzenegger, the real heroic looking men? The latter a draft dogger and the former oiled himself up and posed almost naked for Mr. Universe.

It's a sad state of affairs when someone in an authority position like Krieger thinks that it's appropriate to be making such ridiculous statements in private let alone public. Disgusted isn't a strong enough word for how I feel about his behavour.

Here's the reply I sent to Mayor Krieger:========================================

I read with concern your remarks about gays in the military, not because I disagree with your opinion (since everyone is welcome to their own opinion) but because you have your facts wrong. :

PFC Robert Fleischer, awarded the Bronze Star for his actions under devastating machine gun, mortar, and artillery fire in Germany in 1945, actions which helped turn back a German counteroffensive and thereby protected countless American lives? Fleischer enlisted in the Army, who assigned him to take specialized training at Louisiana State. He deliberately flunked out of the course so he could be sent to the front that much sooner, becoming part of an advance mine detection squad, probing the dirt on hands & knees looking for landmines. He later took part in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp.

Ted Allenby, of Dubuque, Iowa, enlisted (not drafted) as a Marine in World War II. He took part in some of the bitterest fighting in the Pacific in World War II, including the bloody battle of Iwo Jima.

George Dohmann, 19, from the Bronx. He was assigned to the Army's 9th Infantry Division in time to take part in the D-Day invasion of German-held Normandy. He served as a combat medic, was seriously wounded at Cherbourg & again during the Battle of the Bulge, for which he received the Purple Heart & the Medical Combat Badge.

Burt Miller, Navy officer, served aboard an LST (Landing Ship,Tank) in the Pacific during World War II, taking part in amphibious landing operations during the brutal island-hopping campaign against the Japanese.

Robert Ricks, Air Force bomber crewman, crewed a B-24 Liberator bomber flying missions over the heavily-defended Ploesti oil fields in Romania. He was shot down in August 1943, was one of only two survivors from his bomber, then captured as a POW, and transferred to a camp in Dachau.

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I wanted to acquaint you with a few of the men whose name and memory you cruelly slandered with your remarks. How do you live with yourself after what you've done to denigrate and trivialize the sacrifices of these men and countless others?

Our war memorials list the names of countless gay soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who served our country, who were taken prisoner, who were wounded, or who made the supreme sacrifice. As Americans, we don't mark their names on those granite memorials with an asterisk to denote that, as homosexuals, they were less than other veterans, as you did in your remarks. We instead honor these men for their courage, valor, and devotion to duty. My question is, why don't you?

My hope is that this was a case of careless, reckless speech on your part, and not a sign of a callous disregard for the memory of the gay combat veterans who have sacrificed themselves to secure the blessings of liberty that you enjoy with impunity. Why do you believe yourself fit to judge these men and condemn them and their service to our country?

I volunteered to serve during Vietnam as a 17 year old. I did not go to Vietnam, but I put my life at risk just as any straight person did back then. Who is this assclown to deride all honorable servicemen and women who are willing to give up their lives for this great country? Hey pinhead, I served 22 years in the Air Force, I'd love you to call me a sissy to my face!!! Thom on Cape Cod

When I was in the Military Police Corps, I would deliberately hang out with the fags and dykes because they were so much better company than self righteous fools like this yahoo. Better company, better soldiers, better people. Every time I get hope for humanity in general and the USA in particular, some fool like this just destroys that hope. WTG, @$$hole.

I'd love to see this guy trot out the "limp-wristed" comment in front of Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar. Or heaven forbid, the Spartans -- they wouldn't have left enough of him to fit inside a teaspoon.

This guy is crazy and seems to have something he is hiding himself. I wonder why people that hide their own desires use these words to assure themselves of being masculine. I am gay and would not let this old troll near me!